Most artists end up looking cautious and blinkered when put next to Matana Roberts and her utterly epic 12-album project Coin Coin, which has now reached its third chapter. She’s jokingly described it as “my Ring Cycle”, and it’s just as weighty. It’s an exploration of black history, femininity and American identity, reaching back into the horrors – and moments of glorious emancipation – of the antebellum era and the civil rights struggle.

In Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres, she used a jazz orchestra, contracting to a smaller ensemble for Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile. In chapter three, subtitled river run thee, Roberts strikes out solo, threading her saxophone, improvised song and spoken word through multiple layers of field recordings, in a gorgeously dense journey to the past.

Listen to it below exclusively on the Guardian, ahead of its release by Constellation on 2 February. You can hear more about it, and Roberts’ thoughts on Ferguson, black popular culture and more, in today’s interview with her.